Word Entertainment's for KING & COUNTRY released the CD/DVD, HOPE IS WHAT WE CRAVE LIVE which features nine live performances from for KING & COUNTRY's debut album, Crave.

 

What's been great about this extremely talented new band is how their songs have connected so quickly and deeply with listeners. It is a testimony to the power of the Gospel that singing about God's Word doesn't return void. That's what He promises us in the Bible in Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV): "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." 

 

I can't get enough of the Biblical truth of the song "Hope is What We Crave" and I love when artists take Gods' Word from the Bible and turn it into a great and catchy song filled with truth. I sing this song to God with all of my heart and know that "It's written on my soul, Hope's what we crave." We are called by Jesus as Christians to "let your light shine…like a city on a hill." Jesus is the Light of the World. He is the Hope we crave. We are called to display that hope we have in our hearts with others.

 

I had the great opportunity to interview Luke from for KING & COUNTRY in-person at the Creation Festival about their great new song "Hope is What We Crave." Here are the answers to the questions I asked him.

 

Please tell me the personal story behind writing this song.
 

A number of months ago I received a phone call from a dear friend of mine. He had unfortunate news to share with me that one of my best friends from high school had been in a tragic motorcycle accident and he was in a coma, and they didn't think he was going to make it. For me, that was the first time I had received one of those phone calls. We all know they are going to happen in life. Three weeks later I had the opportunity to go see him in the hospital, and he was still in the coma. I was trying to prepare myself for what I would see. I don't spend a lot of time in hospitals, and that is challenging, especially to the mind. I walked in, saw my friend, and saw he was breathing. I looked into his eyes, and saw that he was lifeless. I walked out of that room after seeing him in that hopeless, desperate state, that every single one of us crave this thing called hope. When we have people in our lives who are saturated with hope, they do incredible things. Without it, we all become lifeless. The song came out of a desperate heart cry. I remember when I was sitting in the room with my friend, when I was writing the song. It was a hopeless day. We were searching for the word hope in other songs, and that's how this song came about.

 

Lamentations 3:24 (NKJV): "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"
 

Psalm 25:5 (NIV): Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 

 

Psalm 38:15 (NKJV): For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God.

 

Psalm 39:7 (NKJV): And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. 

All of Psalm 121 (NKJV): "I will lift up my eyes to the hills--From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."

 

What is the takeaway message for listeners?
 

I've seen in my life and in other people's lives this need to fill the voice with so many different things, whether it be relationships, food, drugs, busyness, social media, the car we drive, the house we live in, or whatever it might be for you. Those things are actually a desperate cry for hope in our lives. The only thing that I've been able to find that fills that craving is the hope that God delivers. We're all desperate for hope. There are a lot of Christians who have hope in their lives. There are some who if you took the amount of hope in their lives and magnified it by a light, it would be just like a match. My hope is that our lights would shine like a raging flame in every one of us. Whether that's me on a stage, or you are a lawyer, a doctor, or work in a grocery store, or a mother at home with kids. Whoever you are, my hope is that this song ignites that raging fire of hope inside each of us.

 

 

 

This song was also used in the companion album for the television mini-series, "The Bible." God's Word is our blessed hope. What is great about this song being a different tempo than most of the other songs on the album, this song is a worship experience where I am pondering the Truth of the song, and I ponder eternity. The well-known Plumb song, "God Shaped-Hole" is about how we all crave something more than ourselves and that our hearts will never be filled by this world.  

 

I wasn't saved as a teenager when I listened to songs that weren't edifying, with messages filled with promiscuity and self-fulfillment. I can personally assure those who don't know Jesus that those things will never fulfill or satisfy you. Say goodbye to the vices that have enslaved you in the past and lay them at the feet of Jesus. The Bible tells us that "you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 

 

This song is based on the truth of the Psalms. "Hope is What We Crave" is one of my favorite songs of the year. I can't get enough of the ethereal and prayerful style of the song. The timeless passage, Psalm 121, has application for us today as we live in uncertain times. Know that God is your refuge and your help and Hope comes from the Lord. Amen.

 

(You can watch the live music video here.)